Shinobi Chronicles: Firestorms
by Kaylan Vasters
Summary: Danzo and the Uchiha are determined to neutralize Naruto after he discovers their plot to take over Konoha. After Naruto abandons the village, Sasuke is determined to find him to warn him of the dangers crawling towards him, both in and out of the village. Will Naruto trust him knowing he was betrayed by him once in the past? *Pairings Undecided* *Semi-Dark Naruto*
1. Ch 1: The Jinchuriki's Betrayal

**Update Date: 21st Feb 2014.**

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**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Hi**

**This is going to be one long A/N.**

**I've been thinking about writing this story for a while. But, I lacked the inspiration to think up a decent plot. But, a fuzzy idea came into my mind and I gave it a shot. Yes, true is is a dark Naruto fic, but this is not going to be a simple 'Naruto hates Konoha because they mistreated him' plot. This plot has many complications, twists and turns with varying character behavior and personality. This fic continues from Part-II in canon terms. There will be references or flashbacks to some scenes that happen during Naruto's time in Konoha i.e. Part-I. I will slowly reveal how his drive to leave the village was instigated from time to time. **

**Since this is a non-massacre fic, there will be no vengeful Sasuke. You could say the Sasuke in this story will be semi-RTN Sasuke, with a touch of our original canon Sasuke.**

**Sakura's life was based on her RTN character, where she is an Orphan.**

**Like that many of the characters in the fic...lets say...will be out of character. But, I'll try to keep many of them as 'In-character' as possible. Ideas for the plot and constructive criticism is appreciated. I hope that this story will be very interesting and different.**

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**Chaper One**

**The Jinchuriki's Betrayal**

**人柱力の裏切り**

(Jinchūriki no uragiri)

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When the Godaime Hokage- Uchiha Obito announced the defection of Uzumaki Naruto, silence washed over the assembled Team eight, Team ten and Team Gai.

All the ninja in the room knew that this would eventually happen one day, given the episode at the chunnin exam in Kumogakure a few months ago, but the news was still a shock. Obito personally thought it would happen sooner.

Neji frowned as he heard the silent sobs of Hyuuga Hinata. Lee exchanged a solemn look with Gai. Behind him, Shikamaru sighed deeply. Chouji placed a hand on Ino's shoulder and looked at her sorrowfully. Tenten looked outside the window with a sad look on her face. Kiba could only stare at the floor as Akamaru whined sadly on his head. Shino simply looked impassive, but the low buzzing sound that came from him told that even felt disturbed. Kurenai was staring sadly at Hinata.

"What of Uchiha Sasuke? Did Naruto…kill him?" Sarutobi Asuma asked the one-eyed Hokage.

"He's gravely injured in his battle with Naruto and is currently in a critical condition. Kakashi brought him back in time." Obito said in an impassive tone. "Tsunade-sama herself is treating his injuries…"

"Sasuke-kun…" Ino whispered tearfully.

There was silence for almost a minute, when suddenly Hinata turned heel and stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut.

"Hinata- Sama!" Neji called out.

"Let her be…" Obito said, raising from his chair and turning towards the window behind him. "You all are dismissed." He heard the sounds of shuffling feet, door opening, a few mutters and the door closing shut. As he looked mournfully over the village, he was reminded of the blond enigma who always made him smile. He had promised sensei that he'd look after Naruto. But…

Obito's hands balled into fists.

…he let Konoha's corrupt diplomacy pollute him. With the threat of the Uchiha rebellion, Danzo's root schemes, Orochimaru's recent betrayal and the threat of Akatsuki. Naruto was thrown at the back of his mind. But, he'd take in the reports of the ANBU assigned to watch over Naruto. To check if he was mistreated because he was the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki.

Naruto was never mistreated. He was never mobbed by angry villagers. He was never abused.

Obito's face turned stony. The Sandaime had asked the villagers not to admonish Naruto, but the villagers pretended that there was no Naruto.

Obito knew loneliness. Naruto would've welcomed even a blow to his head from some drunk villager, anything to get acknowledged, anything to convince himself that he wasn't invisible…that he wasn't a ghost…

Obito's eye caught an impassive Uchiha Setsuna walking towards the tower, flanked by four Uchiha Military Police. Obito gritted his teeth. He hated the man.

In a meeting with the Uchiha elders, when the Sandaime declared that next hokage will be an Uchiha. Setsuna, Fugaku and other Uchiha elders looked mildly shocked. Never in their wildest dreams that they ever thought that the Sandaime was going to say those words. They put in their vote without any hesitation and without even knowing the name of the candidate.

A light smile crossed on Obito's face.

But, when it was declared that the Hokage was Uchiha Obito. They were simply outraged."Anyone but him!" they shouted.

Obito, on becoming Hokage had stripped Uchiha of all it's powers, all the Uchiha members on various councils were expelled, even the Uchiha military police was modified to that of a Simple Konoha Battalion. He had transferred many potential Uchiha from the police force to various divisions in konoha. He never let too many Uchiha accumulate in one place. That would be simply asking for a rebellion. Soon, the whispers of a coup 'eat quietened and the Uchiha lost their drive.

The Sandaime was impressed. The Uchiha elders were not.

_Blood traitor._ They called him behind his back.

The door behind him opened and a second later the cold, but calm voice of Uchiha Setsuna spoke. "Hokage-sama…"

Obito turned to him, eyes narrowed and a dark smile on his face. "Please come in. How are you feeling today?"

Setsuna's eyes answered it. _Like putting a kunai in your throat, Hokage._ But, he said, "I've come to discuss the future of Uchiha Sasuke as a potential asset to the village."

Obito's smile grew wider. This is going to be interesting.

* * *

Sasuke woke up to the sounds of beeping. He slowly opened his eyes and stared at the white ceiling of the room. The smell of disinfectant reached his nostrils and made him realize that he was in Konoha Hospital. He racked his mind trying to remember why he was in the hospital in the first place, but it made his head hurt.

He sighed as he leaned back into the pillows, and closed his eyes. It will come back to him. Probably a Jutsu failure or maybe Naruto pushed him off the Hokage monument like he always promised.

Naruto…

A pair of angry slit pupil red eyes flashed into Sasuke's mind and his eyes shot open as he remembered their fight at the final valley.

As he tried to sit up, a pair of strong arms pushed him back into the bed. "Easy, Gaki."

Sasuke looked into the eyes of Jiraiya of the sannin. As ever he was dressed in his ridiculous red outfit with the horned hiai-te of Mount Myobuku. The heavy scroll of 'whatever-it-is' was strapped on to his back. He had a sad smile playing on his face as he looked down at Sasuke.

"How are you feeling, Gaki?" Jiraiya asked, failing to successfully disguise his tone as carefree.

"Where is Naruto?"

Jiraiya just stared outside the window. "Gone."

Sasuke gritted his teeth, his bangs overshadowed his eyes. "Did you know?"

"Hm?"

"Don't act so oblivious…"

Jiraiya turned and narrowed his eyes at him.

"DID YOU KNOW THAT HE WAS UNDER ROOT EXPERIMENTATION!?"

"Yes, I did…"

Sasuke felt hot tears fill is eyes. The injustice of it all bubbled in his stomach. He wanted to blame everything on Jiraiya…Naruto's loneliness…Sakura's death…

But, Jiraiya wasn't the only one to blame…

Shimura Danzo…Uchiha Setsuna…Aburame Shindo…Uchiha Shisui…Orochimaru…Fourth Khazekage…the names would go on forever. Everyone manipulated Naruto and tried to use him. They used his innocence to further their own ambitions. They did it till he finally broke.

"Oh, did he successfully learn that jutsu, the one you were teaching him?" Jiraiya asked looking at Sasuke's chest.

Sasuke looked down at the bandages wrapped around his chest. He cringed as he recalled Naruto piercing the chidori through his back, as the kage bunshin before him dispelled in a puff of smoke. Though he said that he missed the heart by mistake, Sasuke knew he was lying.

"Sasuke…"

Sasuke met Jiraiya's serious eyes.

"What happened at the final valley? What happened to the root ANBU escorting him?" He narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Did they try to extract the Kyuubi?"

Sasuke blinked confused. He tried to remember what happened to the ANBU, but couldn't recall. And nothing in particular about extracting of the Kyuubi. As he tried to recall, he observed that from the time he sneaked off after the ANBU, all he remembered was facing a murderous Naruto.

"I don't …remember…"

Jiraiya looked suspicious. "You don't?" Sasuke shook his head. Jiraiya approached him and placed his chakra-glowing hand on Sasuke's head. A sudden sharp pain spread through Sasuke's forehead to his eyes and Sasuke yelled as Jiraiya jerked his arm back.

"Why the hell did you do that!?"

"I didn't …someone kept a seal in your mind…genjutsu blocks, blocking few memories…" He lowered his arm and frowned. "...Someone who knew what he was doing…"

"Can you break them?"Sasuke asked anxiously.

"Oh, I can break them, alright…it's just that you won't be alive to tell us what you remember…"

"Oh…" Sasuke stared at his palms, wondering what kind of memories were those…

"Naruto is listed as an S-class missing-nin." Jiraiya informed gravely. "The orders are to kill on sight."

"WHAT!? What did he do?" Sasuke jerked his head up. _S-class?_ Sasuke thought. _He won't survive the night!_

"I'd ask the five Root ANBU corpses they brought back…"

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto limped through the forest. His leg was healing, but it was not healing fast. He winced as sharp pain shot through the injury. With a strained yelp he fell on his back. Sweating, he crawled towards the nearest tree and leaned his back to it.

Wincing again as the wound burned, he leaned forward slowly untying the blood-soaked black cloth- which was once the sleeve of his jacket- from his wounded leg.

Gasping for breath, he leaned his head back. His chest rose and fell, and every breath seemed hard.

_Damn you, you bastards. _His eyes were vicious. _Damn, you all!_

He wished Orochimaru was here, at least he'd provide some comforting words. He was the first person to acknowledge him, and he had said the same about Naruto.

_"You and I are same, Naruto-kun…" Orochimaru smiled genuinely._

_"What the hell? You're a Sannin...I'm just a Genin…"_

_"But, that doesn't stop you from respecting me or fearing me…"_

_"Fearing you!? Oh, those purple marks are really creepy. Even you have to admit _that_!"_

Tearing off the other sleeve of the jacket, he leaned forward tying it around the leg, wincing.

_Do your work, you damn fox! You didn't stop for breaks in Kumo!_

Dizziness spread through him and he leaned back again. His vision turned blurry. Naruto realized that he was fainting. Blood loss? Has to be…

And with his blurry vision, he saw a silhouette approaching him. Naruto tried to get up but his body wouldn't respond. The figure was stepping closer, its movements noiseless.

"Who the hell are you?" He managed to whisper.

The figure crouched before him.

"It's me, Naruto-kun." A girl's voice whispered back. A beautiful black-haired, blue eyed, bespectacled girl of thirteen came in to focus. She was smiling. "You know, I promised I'd come for you…"

Naruto looked back at her in shock. His eyes traveled to the Kumo hiai-te tied around her neck. The girl placed her hands over Naruto's injured leg and a second later they glowed with soft-green chakra. Naruto felt a strange warmth spread through his body as his leg healed. He was still dizzy though.

"I told you to stay hidden." He mumbled, trying to look displeased.

The girl giggled softly. "You tell me to do a lot of things."

As soon as she healed his injury, she pulled him to his feet. And before Naruto could say "Stop!" he was being carried piggy-back style on her back.

"Don't be embarrassed." She giggled as she shot upwards towards the canopy. Naruto rested his head on her shoulder and his cheek rubbed against hers. The girl smiled as her face turned pink. "Hmm…this brings back memories…"Naruto's eyes drooped as the trees passed by them in a blur.

"Sleep." She commanded.

Naruto tried to argue, but suddenly that sounded like a good idea.

The girl formed a half tora seal and the genjutsu took effect. A sweet fragrance dominated his nostrils and Naruto sank into a deep sleep. And like all the nights his dreams were the same.

He was laughing as Konoha burned. But, suddenly the screams of Haruno Sakura were heard from one of the houses. He tried to search for her, but closer he seemed to get the farther her voice seemed to come from. But, when he finally found her, it was too late. Haruno Sakura's body was limp and lifeless sprawled in a pool of her own blood. A laughing sound was heard from the shadows behind her, and suddenly a pair of red eyes glowed from there.

Naruto shook in cold fury as the killer stepped out, grinning.

It was a blond boy of thirteen, with whisker like marks on his cheeks.

"You killer her…" The red-eyed Naruto said. "Don't you remember!?"

Naruto gasped.

"Naruto?" The voice came from behind him.

Naruto whirled around to see Kakashi fixing him with a look of betrayal. Sasuke stood a few feet away from him looking at Sakura with wide eyes. "Why? Why did you do it!?" Kakashi shouted.

With a scream of fury Naruto vanished and appeared behind Sasuke. A chirping noise filled the air,a piercing scream and the sound of shredding flesh a second later. With the blood of Uchiha Sasuke splattered across his face, he turned to Kakashi. "It was because he made me do it, sensei…" Naruto hissed, jerking his hand out from Sasuke's chest.

Naruto woke up screaming.

He suddenly felt someone push him back into his sleeping bag.

"It's okay…" She said. "It's okay…"

Tears of rage filled Naruto's eyes and he gritted his teeth. "Konoha will pay…" He looked into the girl's blue eyes.

"Yes…" She whispered, a glazed look passed through her blue orbs. "Konoha shall burn."

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**~ To be Continued ~**

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**AUTHOR'S NOTE #2:**

**Ahem.**

**I know you are bursting with questions. So I've prepared an 'I'm sure you'll ask this' Questions list.**

**You:** _Why the hell is Obito, Hokage? Isn't he the bad guy?_

**Kaylan:** I told you I've changed some characters! Obito is one of them. It is revealed in the recent manga chapters that deep inside he wants to be Hokage.

**You:**_ If Obito is the good guy, then who pulled out the Kyuubi from Kushiha, which led to Naruto being the next host?_

**Kaylan:** I've readied a decent back-story pertaining to that event. Don't worry.

**You:** _If it is not Obito, then who is moving the Akatsuki?_

**Kaylan**: Spoiler.

**You_: _**_Oh.__If Obito is Uchiha, then why is he not helping the Uchiha?_

**Kaylan:** Obito is inspired by Sadaime's teachings and loves peace. Could you quit it with Obito already?

**You: **_One more. Is Rin Dead?_

**Kaylan:** Yes.

**You:**_Wait, is Orochimaru the good guy or the bad guy? Sasuke thinks he's bad, but Naruto thinks he's good...I don't get it..._

**Kaylan: **Orochimaru turned out to be a complicated character. He directs his personality differently from person to person. Sasuke somehow blames Orochimaru for Naruto's betrayal. He thinks he somehow manipulated Naruto.

**You:** _Did he?_

**Kaylan:** Spoiler.

**You:** _Oh. And what the hell happened in Kumo during Chunin exams?_

**Kaylan:** Spoiler.

**You:** _Okay. One more. Who is the girl with Naruto?_

**Kaylan:** Wait for the next chapter.

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**AUTHOUR'S NOTE #3: **

**I will update on a weekly basis, sometimes twice or thrice a week, basing on the response received to the fic. Believe me. I've already prepared the next four long chapters to this fic. I always keep at least one next chapter in reserve before updating, so don't worry about late, once-in-a-lifetime updates. If there is a delay I will inform before hand and will also tell how long the delay.**

**The m****ore **reviews, the more happier and motivated I will get. So you can expect faster updates from me. I know this is only one chapter, but, if you have any ideas for the plot or some other suggestions, please, feel free to shoot me a PM.

**Don't forget to review. You need not be logged in to post one. Even if you are reading just for the fun of it or just found the summary curious so that you were tempted to click and read. JUST ****PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Yours**

**Kaylan-kun.**


	2. Ch 2: The Red seal at Shukuba

**Update: 27th Feb 2014**

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**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **

**Hi, I'm back! And as promised here's the weekly update!**

igorfeiden: I am really glad you like the story!

godsbow1: Thanks a lot! Hope I won't disappoint!

DarkDestroyer666: Loved your review!

anarion87 : Thanks so much!

awesome Prussia: You're really _awesome!_ I'm also considering your suggestion!

ArachneManiac: Glad you like it!

**The reviews really made me giddy with joy. Thanks to even those who have Favorited/following the story. I really hope that I wont disappoint you guys! **

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**Chapter Two**

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******THREE YEARS LATER**

**Root Headquarters**

Seated at a desk in his room, Danzo glared at the reports and photographs set in front of him. With a well concealed snort of disgust, he stood up, grabbing his cane with his one hand, he started to pace around the room, tapping it as he did.

His operatives around the shinobi continent had come to dead end. There was no sign of Uzumaki Naruto. As though determined to submit something of quality in the reports, they would add – _Sighting of a blond male by a farmer in Kaminari no kuni, mysterious death of a local tyrant in Nikko- sure sign of Uzumaki Naruto, strange seals found in Suna fortress ruins- work of Uzumaki Naruto…_

Danzo sighed in frustration. Naruto was the key to his plan from the very beginning. If only he'd manage to get Uchiha Setsuna on his side sooner, he would be currently in charge of Konoha, and Naruto would be by his side, helping him get organized.

If only things went according to plan at the final valley, Naruto would've become his puppet. But Naruto was just too smart, always a step ahead. He might have even figured out their entire plan. Naruto might look oblivious on the outside, but he must have figured out that ripping out the Kyuubi in Kumogakure was also the plan of Root. The real cause for Haruno Sakura's death was also root.

When he was assigned to ANBU Root after the incident, he saw a twinkle in his eye and a dark smile. It was when that Danzo decided to stomp out his emotions and turn him into an emotionless tool before he turned against the village.

But, Naruto was _always _a step ahead…_always_…

The door to the room opened, interrupting his thoughts. Uchiha Setsuna stood in the doorway, with his ever present frown on his face.

Setsuna looked worse than the last time Danzo saw him. The black circles under his eyes had turned shades darker and the few wrinkles on the aged Uchiha's face seemed to have deepened. His spiky brown hair turned almost grey. Yet, there seemed to be a strange composure around him that he was not the one to be underestimated. In the inner circles of the Uchiha conspirators he was known as 'The Second Madara'.

"Well?" Danzo said.

Setsuna held out the scrolls that he was carrying. "They don't make sense at all!" He rasped. "Don't you see? Orochimaru was just bluffing!"

"I don't see." Danzo said in an expressionless tone.

Setsuna gritted his teeth. "I don't believe for a _second _that Orochimaru was able to decipher the Uchiha tablet _without _the sharingan." He stepped into the room and dumped the scrolls on the already packed table.

When Orochimaru was in the Root, he was assigned the task to decipher the tablet after the Uchiha alliance. Danzo and Setsuna had believed that, the contents would help them greatly in their agenda. Though Setsuna was initially against it, he let the non-Uchiha gaze upon the tablet as a sign of good faith. After gazing deeply and seriously into the tablet, Orochimaru suddenly gave a wide grin like he understood something.

"No one can read this, not completely though." Orochimaru declared smoothly. "But, I can decipher it. Just give me a few months."

Orochimaru never looked at the tablet again. But, as days passed Orochimaru's actions told them that he was onto something. He would pore over ancient scrolls and books, conduct strange experiments and all the while, he kept smiling like he is finally on a breakthrough.

When Orochimaru turned traitor and abandoned the village that was when Danzo realized that he had finally succeeded. There was no other possible explanation.

After that the Root salvaged whatever it could from Orochimaru's destroyed files and scrolls. Setsuna and the Uchiha under him were set to the task of re-deciphering and understanding of Orochimaru's workings.

Setsuna looked at Danzo. "Things are getting out of hand, Danzo."

Danzo narrowed his uncovered eye.

"I kept my end of the bargain." Setuna pointed at himself and his eyes moved down to Danzo's sealed arm. "It is about time you honored your side of the arrangement."

"The plan cannot move forward without the Kyuubi. I trust you realize that, Setsuna" Danzo said anger flowing into his impassive tone.

The spiky haired Uchiha narrowed his eye.

"Then find it." The elderly Uchiha hissed. "My patience is wearing thin."

* * *

**The Red seal at Shukuba**

**宿場の朱印**

(Shukuba no shuin)

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**Konoha**

**Inuzuka Compound**

Kiba was busy.

The young Inuzuka wouldn't be distracted in his current task anyway, even if someone tried to make conversation with him. He inhaled the food set before him and held out his empty bowl, gesturing for more.

He got more and continued to inhale.

He knew that neither he nor his team had a mission today. Perhaps he might pester Sasuke into sparring with him after their usual combo training. On second thoughts…no…Sasuke was getting clearly irritated these days with how often he was trying to spar with him anyway, maybe he'd pester Shino today.

Nodding to himself, Kiba made his choice.

"Don't forget to visit your sister at the Vet today." His mother reminded him as he stood up with all intents to leave.

"Hai, Hai." He muttered as he made his way out.

Walking towards the gate of his clan compound, he was joined by Akamaru who barked happily at his sight and trotted by his side. Sighing and stretching, he opened the gate and stepped out.

As he went down the road the aroma of cinnamon rolls from one of the food stalls hit him and he was sadly reminded of Hinata. Sensing his master's feelings the large canine whined sadly. Pushing the thoughts of his former teammate aside, Kiba continued to stroll down the road, until he caught a very familiar scent.

Frowning, he turned around to face Jiraiya of the Sannin.

The toad sage looked down at him seriously. "Where is Sasuke?"

* * *

**Konoha Hot Springs  
(Womens' Side)**

Uchiha Sasuke's eyebrow twitched as a vein throbbed in his forehead.

His annoyance was further intensified when he heard unmanly giggles come from Jiraiya, who was peeking through a hole into the women's section of the hot-springs.

"Ahem." He cleared his throat, trying to get Jiraya's attention.

Jiraiya's giggles grew stronger and his face went red. "Ahhh…people are going to _kill _for my next book!"

"Jiraiya." Sasuke seethed.

"Just a second, Gaki." Jiraya snapped, still peering into the baths. "I'm on a verge of a breakthrough over here!"

Sasuke sighed.

When Inuzuka Kiba came to him running at their usual training grounds and told him that Jiraya wanted to have a word with him and was waiting for him at the Onsen, he took off so fast that he might have used the Hiraishin. If Kiba of all people had looked serious, then he assumed that Jiraya had too. He might have discovered something new…about Naruto.

Three Years have passed and there has been no signs of Naruto, somehow he was scared that Naruto had met his demise and his death was being kept secret. But, Jiraiya seemed confident that Naruto was hiding, biding his time. He told him that there were signs of Naruto, but no solid proof.

This time he must have struck gold.

After the events of the final valley, Team Seven was officially disbanded. For a year Sasuke trained under Kakashi and completed missions under him, till he became Chunin. But, after Hyuuga Hinata's defection Sasuke was assigned to Team Eight under Yuhi Kurenai's supervision and Kakashi became an ANBU captain.

Jiraiya giggled again and Sasuke had a strong temptation to introduce a rasengan to his face.

Sasuke's attire didn't change much during the years. He still wore a standard Uchiha, high collar shirt with the crest on the back. The white shorts that he wore during his genin days were replaced with standard chunin pants with the usual kunai and shuriken holsters, and the weapons pouch.

Sighing, Sasuke sat beside Jiraiya leaning his back to the wall.

Spotting a green book by Jiraiya's side titled 'Icha-Icha Tactics' he curiously lifted it and studied the cover. "This your new book?" He asked.

This time Jiraiya looked at him. "Yes!" He said excitedly, wiping off a nosebleed. "That's the first copy! The book has not been out yet!"

"Hmm…" Sasuke turned a page.

Jiraiya went back to the hole. "I even added some of the _excellent _ideas that you gave me!"

Sasuke cringed at the memory. "You did?"

"Yes! The publisher loved them!"

Sasuke tried to suppress those memories that gave him an urge to repeatedly bang his head against the wall.

"Good to know." He managed. "So, any news of Naruto?" Jiraiya's creepy grin faltered and he turned to Sasuke, eyes serious.

"Open this." He handed Sasuke a large envelope from the folds of his robes.

Curious, Sasuke opened the cover and pulled out one of the photographs. It was a photo of a black haired girl about his age wearing glasses who seemed vaguely familiar. The shot seemed to have been taken in public. She seemed to be looking around, checking if anyone was following her. She was wearing a black hooded mantle.

"Osugi Tatsuya. One of my spies was just keeping general tabs on her. You know, a M.I.A genin in a crowded town. One has to be an idiot not to smell a rat."

"Missing in Action?"

"She was of Kumogakure. She was presumed dead in the Chunin exams you attended. In the second stage."

"But, how does that relate with Naruto?"

"Check the next photograph."

Sasuke pulled another photo out of the cover and his eyes widened as he took in the detail. The photo was of a dead man, a shinobi with his eyes wide, who clean hole ripped through the chest. The armor plate he wore was cracked and melted exactly to take the shape of the hole.

"There are only three people in the world who can perform that jutsu. One is here, in Konoha. Probably, giggling with his nose dug in one of my many masterpieces, the second is sitting before me and the third…did that…"

"Who is the dead man?" Sasuke asked.

"The spy keeping tabs on Tatsuya."

Sasuke's heart raced. After three years. Three long years of searching, he finally felt that he was onto something. But, something was not right…

"Naruto wouldn't use such an obvious jutsu," Sasuke frowned. ", even if he did he wouldn't leave the body lying around."

Jiraiya looked impressed. "Exactly!" He peeped back into the hole. "Naruto is trying to tell us something…"

"What?"

"That he want us to find him…"

Sasuke remained silent for a while, pondering over this new theory. He looked back at the first photo. "Where was the girl…Tatsuya?"

"The photograph was taken in Shukuba Town…and that is very suspicious…"

Shukuba Town is one of the fairly crowded towns in Hi no Kuni, easy to blend in. Sasuke didn't see how that was suspicious.

"Why?"

"Because that's where Hyuuga Hinata is right now."

"Hinata?"

Jiraiya nodded.

"Wait. Is Hinata in contact with Naruto?"

Jiraiya smiled, turning towards Sasuke. "Naruto is a genius. He was planning to defect from the very beginning since the Chunin exams. He had a plan in his mind."Jiraiya nodded, impressed. "He had formed his little group before he even left the village. Shisui taught him well in Root."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"His plan was going perfectly until you came in and ruinied it. It was all laid out before us, only that we were blind to see it. Tatsuya…Hinata…Gaara…"

"Wait…even Gaara?"

Sasuke heard of Gaara's failed assassination attempt on his father, the Khazekage. He had fled the village after that and was listed as an S-class missing nin.

"But, something else bugs me…if not Hinata, Naruto must have someone else inside the village feeding him information…"

"Who?" Sasuke leaned forward.

"My first guess…" Jiraiya said, eyes narrowed suspiciously at Sasuke. "…was you."

There was utter silence for five seconds, punctured by the laughs from the baths.

"Me?" Sasuke said, trying to sound exasperated and failing.

"Why not?" Jiraiya whispered suspiciously. "You are in direct contact with me, the Hokage, ANBU and Setsuna. You have direct information flow from all the centers in the village. You have multiple memory seals in your mind, probably disguising your memory as Naruto's co-conspirator. Maybe you aided Naruto in killing those Root members three years ago and took a chidori to your chest on purpose, slightly missing your heart, just a minute before Kakashi arrived. Thereby gaining our sympathies and trusting with you the little information that we gather about Naruto in your desperation to find him. _You_…maybe Naruto's spy."

Sasuke realized that his mouth was hanging and closed it.

Jiraiya continued to look at him suspiciously and suddenly burst out laughing.

"GYAHAHAHAHA….got you there, didn't I?"

Sasuke still looked troubled. "Wait…what if you are right? What if I'm‒?

"No, you're not…I checked…"

"How?" Sasuke asked anxiously.

"The seals in your mind have a little bit of your chakra accumulated around them. This tells us that your chakra was fighting back when the seals were placed on you. If you allowed the seals to be willingly placed on your mind, there wouldn't be any."

"But, that still doesn't explain…"

"And…" Jiraiya cut through, cheerfully. "Naruto doesn't trust you…well neither would I after what you did to him. That's a good enough reason."

Sasuke frowned at the ground, wishing that the spy theory was true. At least he'd be in Naruto's trust. "I didn't know what they were planning…"

"Oh, forget it!" Jiraiya waved his arm and went back to peeping. "What's done is done!"

Sasuke leaned his head back on the wall as he pondered. If he caught up with Hinata, she'll lead him to Naruto. He just had to find a good excuse to get to Shukuba Town.

"I think you should get back to your team, you have a mission."

"No we don't.", Sasuke frowned. Today they were taking a break from missions and were planning to train their combo moves.

"Yes, you do. You have a scroll to deliver in Shukuba town." Jiraiya said, still peering into the hole. "I am the client and I expressly requested for Team Eight."

Sasuke blinked. His lips slowly turned into a triumphant smirked as he stood up. "Well I'd better get ready, then."

"Yes, yes…now go. OOOHHH!" His face turned bright red as he looked into the hole, his lips turned into a wide leer. "Now this is really TOO MUCH!"

"Why don't you just use the camouflage jutsu and step in there?" Sasuke was curious.

Jiraya froze in his mid-leer and slowly turned to Sasuke, his eyes as wide as saucers. "Its official now…" He managed to whisper. "You are my successor to the Icha-Icha!"

"Wait...WHAT!?"

It was too late, Jiraiya formed a seal and vanished from sight. As Sasuke heard the sound of wooden sandals and stifled giggling move away from him he wondered vaguely if Jiraiya was serious about that part.

* * *

**Shukuba Town**

Shukuba Town was not a place for a girl. Not particularly for a girl alone.

The pleasure district in Hi no Kuni was a very busy one. Sounds of merry and laughter were heard from every hotel, inn, restaurant and brothel that she passed.

A very pretty girl in a town like this will be treated like…well, like every other pretty girl in the brothels here. She had lost count of the winks, nose bleeds and leers that she got from the men that she passed. She wore a hooded cloak, but that didn't seem to be completely covering up the shape of her body. One man tried to slap her butt, but before he could do that she caught his hand and fixed him with a glare. The man looked shocked and confused as he looked at her, then it soon melted away to the look of horror as his eyes rested on her exposed forehead beneath the hood. He suddenly jerked his hand away from her grasp and ran away, covered in cold sweat, turning and sparing her glances to see if she was following.

Hyuuga Hinata sighed. It wasn't long before the man found a shinobi or a local lawman and informed about her presence. She had to finish her work fast. She was secretly glad that even a civilian in a town like this knew about her. No, it was probably the red caged bird seal on her forehead that did the job

Stopping before a brothel in the Fun-Fun Avenue, she activated her Byakugan. As she expected she found her target flanked by two guards at the bar section in ground floor. Stepping in, she made her way towards him and sat on a bar stool a few meters away from him. Slipping them out of the cloak, she crossed her legs in a very seducing fashion. It didn't take long to attract Gato's attention.

The balding, short tyrant leered at her. Pushing his shades down his nose, he winked at her. Hinata smiled coyly at him, she got up from her seat and made her way towards him, swaying her hips slightly. If Gato found the hooded cloak questionable, he brushed it away, probably thinking that it must be some kind of a kinky thing. He waved off the samurai guards who strolled away, grinning. "Have some fun, boys!" Soon spotting a couple of girls benoking at them, the guards smiled and stepped towards them.

Hinata reached Gato, smiling she placed her arms on his chest in a very seducing manner and very slowly made her way down. Gato shuddered in pleasure, grinning widely. As her hands reached over his heart she sent a Jyuuken strike, silent but deadly, blocking the heart valves. Gato died instantly, the sickly grin still plastered on his face. Hinata slowly lowered him onto the bar table, making him looked like he passed out drinking. With the byakugan she noticed that no one was looking her way. Everyone were busy in their own game. Smiling, she got to work.

* * *

"Well?" Haku asked.

"It's done. Gato is dead." Hinata nodded.

Haku simply looked at her, expressionless.

They were at their temporary hideout, an abandoned house north of the town. It was surrounded by special stealth seals that Naruto-kun made. Though Hinata never met Naruto since his defection, he was in contact with her through some mystery girl called Tatsuya whom Naruto seemed to trust more than anyone else.

"But, where's his body?" Haku asked waving his arms around, frustration suddenly showing up on his face. "You know we can't collect the bounty without it! You should've gotten the head at least! "

"Oh. That won't be a problem." Hinata said, brushing it away. "They'll know it was us."

"How!?"

Hinata stared at Haku like he just asked a really stupid question.

"Oh." Haku's eyes dawned in realization. "But, will Tatsuya be pleased? She's been warning us to keep our noses clean…"

"It was for Zabuza." Hinata said firmly. "And also I don't give a damn about what that self-centered bitch thinks."

Two weeks after Hinata left Konoha, she was taken in by the Kiri missing nin (which at some point was Tatsuya's and Naruto's plan). Zabuza died protecting her and Haku from Gato and his thugs who were looking for revenge after they destroyed their operation in the Land of waves. She and Haku were disguised as Kiri Hunter-nin and thankfully Gato didn't see their faces.

"Naruto isn't gonna be pleased either."

Hinata folded her hands, thinking about Naruto. "He'll understand…" She whispered.

* * *

The next day a crowd gathered around Gato's unmoving body, head still on the table and his arm around it, blocking it from view.

The Samurai-guard frowned, a drunk civilian had been telling around that he saw Hyuuga Hinata around these parts last night. As he reached out and pulled Gato's hand away, he realized that the man was speaking the truth.

Bright red, carved on the grinning face of Gato, on his fore head was a swastika with two horizontal lines on either sides. The trademark of the kills of the missing-nin Hyuuga.

Behind the crowd, two shinobi stood silently. They were dressed in similar attire: conical straw hats with tiny bells attached and chin high black cloaks with imprints of red clouds. One of them looked particularly taller than the other, with what looked like a humongous sword wrapped in bandages strapped on to his back. He looked down at his partner who was staring seriously into the crowd.

"Ne, Shisui-san? Do you really think this Hyuuga will lead us to the Kyuubi?"

Uchiha Shisui said nothing for a few seconds. "Come, Kisame."

The Akatsuki agents turned and walked away, the bells dinging lightly as they moved.

Beneath the hat, Shisui narrowed his eye. Silently forming a one hand seal, the Konoha's spy sent a message to Shimura Danzo.

_The Kyuubi is coming out to play._

* * *

**~To be Continued~**

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE #2:**

**How do you like it?**

**Note: Shukuba Town is the place in canon where Itachi and Kisame confront Jiraiya and Naruto (and also the place where Sasuke gets his ass handed to him by his beloved Nii-san.)**

**You might ask:-** Why is Shisui in Akatsuki? Where the hell is Itachi? Is Shisui the good guy?

**And I'll say: **Wait and find out...

* * *

**AUTHOUR'S NOTE #3**: And also...

Quite a bit of action coming up in the next chapter...

**Next Chapter:**

** Wrong day to die.**

Please don't forget to review!


	3. Ch 3: Wrong Day to Die

**Edit: 11th April 2014**

* * *

**Author's Note: **Really, really sorry for the late update! I know I promised that I'll update every week. But dont get me wrong! I tried, me and my team were assigned to the country-side as interns for over a month and can you believe it? NO INTERNET! We only had computer and net access at the office and sadly fanfiction. net was blocked by the firewall (seriously, who would do that?). Now that i'm back and will not be going anywhere soon you can expect weekly updates from me.

* * *

**Konoha**

Yuhi Kurenai was a proud Jonin of Konoha.

She was given under her care three young Genin for her to nurture and to make them loyal and skillful shinobi of Konoha. She was sure that she the original team eight would be one of the finest teams in the village. Kurenai was confident that she had been a good teacher.

She was wrong.

Who would've thought that Hyuuga Hinata, the shy girl who rarely spoke in public, the girl who secretly held affections for Naruto would turn traitor and abandon the village after killing a member of her own clan.

Kurenai blamed it on herself. Everyone, including Kiba and Shino told her that she was not to blame. But, deep inside Kurenai knew that it was her duty to foresee this disaster. Hinata was showing the signs of anger and resentment to everyone and everything she met. Everyone knew that it was because of Naruto. Kurenai like everyone thought that Hinata would get over her childhood crush and move on.

She was never more wrong. It seemed like, by every passing day, Hinata was turning more and more violent. After ruthlessly killing a rouge ninja during a mission and almost breaking Hanabi's arm during the Jyuken training, Kurenai decided it was time to step in.

"Hinata…I know why you are doing this …"

Hinata frowned at the ground.

"But, you must see the reality!" Kurenai said. "Naruto is never coming back! He didn't share your feelings! You must move on!"

"Move on?" Hinata looked at her incredulously.

"Yes…"

"Naruto-kun was everything to me…he defined me…he is the reason Neji-Nii-san respects me now…" She activated her byakugan, furious. "He is the _real_ reason for my growth as a Kunoichi, not you!" She spat venomously. "He is the reason I lived for…and they took him away from me…"

The turned and walked away, hot hears flowing down her cheeks.

It was not long before the Hyuuga clan realized that, someone like Hinata who is now turning out to be a disgrace on the name of Hyuuga, is not fit to be the heiress of the prestigious clan. The Hyuuga council overruling the protests of Hyuuga Hiashi had decided to administer the caged bird seal on her.

Neji informed Kurenai that Hinata was silent and willing throughout the entire process. They not only put the caged bird seal on her, they even sealed away her Byakugan. "Your actions have shamed the Hyuuga." Hyuuga Hidori had said, not even trying to hide his victorious smirk. "But, not to worry. You are no longer one." He activated the seal.

Hinata didn't scream. Only her gritted teeth and the vein throbbing on her forehead were the sighs that she was feeling pain.

Since, she was no longer a Hyuuga, Hinata had moved out of the Hyuuga clan compound. And of all the places, she had moved into Naruto's old apartment, which was now covered in several layers of dust.

Only a week later, there had been an assassination attempt on her in the apartment, only for it to go awfully wrong. Kurenai had a strong hunch that Hyuuga Hidori was behind it.

The assassin, who was Hidori's firstborn son was found dead the next day in the apartment with no sign of Hinata. He died of a Jyuuken strike to the heart.

The most curious and frightening thing off all was that Hyuga Hiroshi, the would-be assassin, who belonged to the main branch - had a caged bird seal etched on his forehead. And unlike regular caged bird seals which were green, it was red…

Immediately, Hyuuga Hinata was declared extremely dangerous and was ranked as an A-rank missing-nin of Konoha.

That was when Kurenai realized that she had failed her student.

Kurenai opened the door to the Hokage's office and stepped in. Her team was already assembled. From behind the desk piled with paper work, Obito looked at her and smiled. "Good. You're here, Kurenai." He stood up and lazily made a half tora seal. The door closed shut and the silencing seals spread across the office.

Obito's casual smile vanished and he turned serious. "We have no time to waste." He started. "We have a general idea where Naruto's accomplices might be hiding and we must move fast. Yes, your official mission is to deliver a scroll to one of Jiraiya's spies, but your real mission is to find Hyuuga Hinata and Osugi Tatsuya and to capture them. I'll have an ANBU team near the town as your back up."

The members of team eight gave stiff nods.

"You will proceed with extreme caution, and Yuhi Kurenai will be the team leader for the mission."

"What about Naruto?" Sasuke asked, trying to keep curiosity from his voice.

"If you find him, do not engage directly, the same goes for Sabaku no Gaara. Give a distress call from the Jiraiya's special beacon seals and wait for back up."

Kiba frowned. "What if we have no time for back up?"

Obito turned to the window. "Then you shall abort the mission."

"What? Why?"

Obito sighed.

"Why?" Shino said to Kiba, a frown in his voice. "Because we will be dealing with S-Rank criminals who are not to be taken lightly. If we ignore the terms of our missions and Uzumaki's and Gaara's past actions, we will be most likely dead. It is safe to assume that they have grown to an even stronger level. We are only the reconnaissance of this mission, not the direct confrontation. We are being assigned under this mission mainly because of our tracking and information extracting skills_._"

Kurenai smiled proudly. At least one of her students grew the right way.

Obito turned to Kiba. "He saved me the speech. But, I will say again, to you, Kiba and Sasuke. Yes, even you Sasuke."He added when Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Do not engage the enemy. I know Hinata and Naruto were your friends once, but now they are the enemy. Do not think, not even for a second that they _still_ are your friends, because they will not treat you the same way, that I guarantee you."

There was silence in the room for a few seconds.

"You will not speak of the particulars of the real mission, especially inside the village, unless absolutely necessary. You are to leave immediately. Dismissed."

Team eight turned and walked to the door as Obito turned off the seals.

"Sasuke…" the Godaime said.

Sasuke paused in the doorway and looked at Obito.

"Good luck."

Sasuke nodded and stepped out.

* * *

**Chapter Three**

**Wrong Day to Die**

**死ぬ間違っ日**

**(Shinu machiga~tsu-bi)**

* * *

**Somewhere near Tsuchi no Kuni Borders**

Aburame Shindo screamed in agony as the chidori current spread through his entire body, and suddenly just as it came, it stopped.

Panting, he looked into the cerulean blue eyes of Uzumaki Naruto, who looked like he was rather enjoying himself.

"Tatsuya." Naruto said, and a young bespectacled kunoichi stepped into the light and walked towards them.

Naruto stepped away from Shindo as Tatsuya healed him.

Shindo gritted his teeth as the warmth spread through his body. His eyes from behind his sunglasses switched from Naruto to Tatsuya to the white haired pale shinobi in the shadows. His wounds were slowly closing, but the pain still remained. It was an old torture game used in Root where the beaten up victim was fully healed to get beaten up again.

It was stupid of him to fall into such a silly trap. But, he couldn't blame himself. Naruto used a strange Jutsu on him earlier that made him cut off his contact with his Kikaichu. And without his bugs the Aburame was powerless. It didn't take more than half a second for the white haired Kaguya to subdue him.

"So, you really left Root too…" Naruto said. "My, my..."

"It had been seven years…" The Aburame said weakly as Tatsuya steeped away from him.

"So, you were not involved in Danzo's plan? Not even when you attacked my team in Diro three years ago?"

"…no."

Naruto stepped forward.

"GYAAAAAAAAAHHH!" He screamed as pain raced through his body. "NO! NO! I SWEAR!"

The pain stopped.

Shindo was surprised as anyone would be when he saw Naruto. When Naruto disappeared after last being seen at the final valley, it was like he was wiped off the face of earth. And suddenly three years later he comes across him and was taken prisoner by him, and here he was desperately hoping all these years that Naruto was truly dead. This Naruto was not like the Naruto he remembered. Innocent, troublesome, attention seeker and powerless– a completely useless Jinchuriki. Naruto had grown taller. He let his blond hair grow a bit making the bangs flank his face. Underneath the black cloak he wore, Shindo caught a glimpse of a high-collared orange jacket.

When he had opened his eyes he found himself in an abandoned building, with one window from where the sunlight fell showing the countless floating dust mites. He was chained to a wall with chakra sucking seals and before him stood Naruto, the Kaguya and a girl wearing glasses.

"Fine. So, do you know where Orochimaru is right now?" Naruto asked.

"Akatsuki…I think…"

"Orochimaru left the Akatsuki two months ago…"

"I didn't kno- GYAAAAAAHH!"

Naruto's grin widened as the Missing-nin Aburame screamed. The blue-white flickering light from the chidori current made ghostly shadows flicker on Naruto's face.

"The truth?"

The current stopped and the Aburame stopped screaming. Leaned his head back to the wall he was chained to. He was sweating profusely and, his fingers and eyes twitching involuntarily. His hair stood on its ends.

"You know…Tatsuya here can cast a genjutsu on you and make you spill all the beans in a matter of seconds…" Naruto smiled impishly. "But you gotta admit…my way is much more fun…"

Shindo's eyes behind the glasses darted to Tatsuya, pleading. Tatsuya remained impassive and silent but the other member of Naruto's group- the bone user - spoke in a smooth and deep voice

"Naruto…we aren't getting anywhere with this." He said, leaning by the window. "Just let Tatsuya find out what he knows, kill him and let's get out of here."

Naruto turned a pouting face to him. "You take all the fun out of my life, Kimmimaro." He stood up and took a few steps back grinning at the captive. "You're now wishing that you should've killed me three years ago that day aren't you, Shindo?"

Shindo didn't reply. His head was lowered in resignation and didn't even try to fight the genjutsu that Tatsuya was placing him in.

Naruto walked over to Kimmimaro, wiping off the fake grin and face turning impassive. "Well?" He whispered

Kimmimaro folded his arms over the black hooded cloak he wore and whispered back "I just got a message through Gaara's sand. Jiraya's spy was found dead. Konoha knows that you are making your move…Danzo's not gonna sit by idly…"

"Good." Naruto nodded.

"One more thing…Hinata and Haku screwed up. They blew up their cover in Shukuba."

Naruto took a deep controlling breath. "And?"

"If they send a tracking team, Konoha can pinpoint where we are exactly."

Kimmimaro was taken aback as Naruto gave a smile. "Things couldn't be more perfect. Looks like those two did something of use after all, unintentionally though…"

The bone user was baffled. "What?"

"Kimmimaro, I've told you about my past. If they send a tracking team who do you think they'll send?"

Kimmimaro screwed his brows and pondered for a few seconds. "Team Eight?"

"Looks like you're gonna meet Sasuke sooner than you thought."

"If he's anything like Orochimaru-sama and you told me…we dare not underestimate him…" Kimmimaro's eyes flickered outside the window, as though expecting Konoha ANBU to come rushing in any second. "Naruto…" He whispered as his eyes fell on Tatsuya at the end of the room. She was holding a half tora seal before the blabbering captive. "I don't think I trust her."

Naruto leaned beside Kimmimaro and followed his gaze. "She said the same about you."

Kimmimaro raised an eyebrow, but did not elaborate.

"Don't worry." Naruto said. "I trust her with my life."

Suddenly, Naruto, Kimmimaro and across the room – Tatsuya stiffened as they felt a suppressing chakra presence. All at one they jerked their heads towards the window.

"We've got a real problem." Kimmimaro whispered as he looked out.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as two figures came into view. One of them was considerably taller than other and had a humongous sword strapped on to his back. They wore black cloaks with red clouds.

Tatsuya ran to Naruto's side and looked at the Akatsuki, horrified. "Naruto! lets go now! it's him! He found us!"

Naruto smirked lightly, his eyes on the shorter of the two. "Looks like Shisui- senpai is here to give me another lecture."

* * *

**A few miles east of Shukuba Town**

"Are you sure we are in the right place?" Haku asked as he looked around.

They were in the abandoned section of a village, a few miles from but oddly everything was clean.

"In here." Hinata opened a side-door of a building and stepped in. Shrugging, Haku followed her in.

It took a few seconds for their eyes to adjust to the darkness. And slowly a very dusty room came into view.

"Are you _sure_ that we are in the right place?" Haku repeated, looking around. In his opinion this place didn't look the sort where million Ryo deals took place. But, then again it was a Black market bounty meeting place, so it was necessary to be discreet.

Hinata had activated her byakugan and looked around and finally her eyes stopped on an empty barrel. Walking towards it, she whacked it once. And to Haku's surprise the barrel yelled and there was a puff of smoke and a small, timid looking man materialized inside the barrel.

"Your jutsu was good." Hinata nodded approvingly. "But not good enough. Now give us our ten million ryo so that we can get out of this dump."

The man looked lost until his eyes fell on Hinata's forehead. "Oh." He realized and suddenly his timid nature vanished and a businessman look appeared on his face. Stepping out of the barrel smoothly, the man gave a light bow. "Hyuuga Hinata…it really is an honor to be in your presence. I've never dreamt that I'd have the great… "

As Haku saw the frown deepen by the second on Hinata's face, he realized that it was time to step in before Hinata realizes that the poor blabbering man would be of better use dead.

" …you must realize what – "

"Ahem…" Haku cut in. "We are pleased and all too, but we are in a hurry. So why don't you give us the money so that we can be on our way?" He smiled hopefully.

"Certainly." The man bowed gain.

Haku sighed in relief. No need to use violence to knock sense into a man, as long as you've got silver tongue, right?

"But, where is the body?" The man looked genuinely surprised.

Oh boy…Haku thought as Hinata's byakugan flared. It looked like he didn't have a silver tongue after all.

* * *

**Shukuba Town**

Shino held his finger close to his eyes as a bug buzzed and slowly landed on it. "Hmm…Hinata was definitely here. There are faint traces of her chakra.

Kiba sniffed the air and gagged. "God! Just how much perfume do people wear here?" He made chocking sounds., clutching his throat. Akamaru whined, apparently having the same problems.

Team Eight had arrived at Subaku an hour ago, it took them only an hour travel here from Konoha.

After having a murder in the busiest section of the city, the local law keepers were glad to have a few shinobi to help them. Kurenai and Sasuke were allowed to talk to the man who claimed he'd seen Hinata. Sasuke after staring into the man's eyes with his Sharingan, nodded. "It's definitely her."

One of Shino's bugs landed on his finger and a second later he called out. "Found her!"

Kurenai and Saskue were by his side in a second.

"Goof..." Kiba said, pinching his nose closed. "lebs get ow of id 'am face!"

Team eight started out of the town with Shino in the lead.

They didn't notice a pair of hate filled eyes follow them out.

* * *

"Finally!" Hinata exclaimed as she heaved up the heavy suitcase with relative ease.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Hinata-san, Haku-san." The broker smiled pleasantly as he wiped off the nosebleed of his recently punched nose.

"Well…good to know." Haku replied, unsure. He followed Hinata out of the building. "So," He said eyeing the heavy suitcase. "I should've asked first, but what are we going to do with all that money?"

"Send it to Wave." Hinata replied like that was the most obvious thing.

Haku nodded. Though the bridge was complete in Wave and Gato was no longer around, the economy of Wave was still down after Gato had sucked off everything they had. It would be good to give them a boost.

"So…to Wave then…"

"Yeah…Tatsuya's gonna bitch about it, but I don't give a damn. Now come here and help me carry this." She shoved the case into a surprised Haku's arms."Oof!"

"That's better!" She grinned.

Haku frowned at her from behind and slowly it melted and a soft smile appeared on his face. Over the years Haku had outgrown his feminine looks, his hair was cut till it was shoulder length and was tied into a ponytail, his face showed signs of masculine hair growth, though his voice was still soft, it had slight baritone ring to it. Haku and Hinata still had their hunter-nin masks, the only reminder of their time with Momochi Zabuza.

Two years ago, Zabuza was very surprised when Hinata just walked into their hideout looking for something or someone called 'Naruto'. After Zabuza denied he had any fishcakes, he demanded how she got in despite the traps and the genjutsu. Hinata activated her Byakugan. A few seconds later Zabuza simply smiled.

That day Zabuza gained a new apprentice and Haku gained a friend. Someone else to live for.

"Hyuuga-san!"

Haku and Hinata stopped and turned towards the broker who was standing outside waving a paper at them. "Here's your receipt!"

"Receipt?" Haku scoffed. "That's odd…"

"Whatever." Hinata muttered and started towards the man and snatched the paper from him.

Shrugging, she walked towards Haku. Slowly her face turned serious and suddenly threw the paper away and jumped away from it. "Haku, back! It's a trap!"

A sizzling noise filled the air and Haku smelled smoke. There was a deafening explosion and a huge fireball shot slowly into the sky. The shockwave sent Haku flying. The briefcase smashed open and the money flew around. Blowing around like leaves in high winds. "HINATA!" He yelled.

He heard a muffled scream and before he could run to help her, he heard a buzzing sound. He looked up to see a swarm of insects coming down on him at an alarming speed. Thinking fast and in quick succession running through the one-hand seals he formed a Crystal Ice mirror and melted into it. Inside the safety of the mirror he formed another mirror where he last saw Hinata and with the speed of light raced out from it, just for him to face a pair of red eyes. Haku distinctly heard his mirrors shatter as the genjutsu took effect on him. He absently noted someone place a hand on him. He suddenly jerked active as he received chakra, cutting off the genjutsu.

"Uchiha Sasuke." He heard Hinata snarl behind him.

Half of Hinata face was burnt red, but not too serious. Her hair was burnt on one side, making it crisp and hard. However, with the byakugan blazing and the red seal on her head glowing, that made her look even more dangerous.

"Hello, Hinata." A smooth voice answered. "You're slipping. I thought you'd actually look through the exploding tag."

"Don't look into his eyes." Hinata whispered into Haku's ear. "He has the Sharingan."

Haku nodded and locked his gaze on the pair of feet standing before him. Zabuza trained him to fight without looking into the opponent's eyes, in case he came across an Uchiha or Hatake Kakashi. Narrowing his eyes at the feet, Haku waited for movement.

"It looks like my old team is here too. Hi, Shino-kun! It's been a while" Hinata said, grinning sickly at the hooded insect user. "I barely recognized you with the hood and all."

Shino didn't reply.

"Hyuuga Hinata." A cold, female voice came behind her. Hinata turned to face a serious Yuhi Kurenai. "You will surrender peacefully and come with us as our prisoner or we will take you and your partner down by force."

The explosion had taken out the building they had been in, not to mention making a decent sized crater on the ground. The money was raining all over the area, the hot winds making them dance in mid-air.

Hinata noticed Kiba and Akamaru on the roofs, one on her either side, surely for their combo attacks. She and Haku stood back-to-back as the enemy surrounded him.

Sasuke flicked out a tiny scroll from the weapons pouch and with a wave of his hand he spread it on the ground and stamped in the middle. "ANBU'll be here soon." He replied blankly, the Kanji on the scroll glowed green.

"Surrender, Hinata. You can't take down all of us!" Kiba yelled, his voice strangely thick. Akamaru barked, probably implying the same.

"You guys haven't changed at all!" Hinata laughed, as she evaluated the situation. With Sasuke's sharingan, Kurenai's genjutu, Kiba and Akamaru's combo attacks and Shino's bugs flying overhead. They were certainly boxed in.

Even with Haku's crystal ice mirrors, they cant get far. Team Eight had the tracking advantage. "Haku." She whispered. "It's me they want…you go, now…"

Haku narrowed his eyes, suddenly angry. "I'm not leaving you."

"No!" Hinata whispered hoarsely. "You heard Sasuke! ANBU will be here soon! Find Naruto! Come back with help!"

Before Haku could reply a rumbling sound filled the air, and suddenly a huge pair of yellow arms came out of nowhere and grabbed each of them and pulled away.

Alarmed, the members of Team Eight sped towards the direction of the huge arms and stopped a as they saw who the new visitor was.

Sabaku no Gaara, stood a few meters away his hands apart, controlling the sand pouring out of the gourd that was strapped to his back. The huge sand arms dumped Haku and Hinata at his feet and dissolved. The duo sprang up facing him. "Gaara?"

Gaara glared at Hinata. "One week!" He hissed, his eyes blazing with hate. "We told you two to stay still for one week! And now you bring Konoha on our backs!?"

"Gaara…I…" Haku muttered.

"Shut up!" He looked past them to see the konoha shinobi assemble. "Sasuke is here." He noted. He looked back at Hinata and then at Haku. "Go to the base in the Land of Rivers. I'll join you after I take care of them."

"We can help you!" Hinata protested.

"Shut up, and for once - do as said!"

Grumbling, Hinata and Haku took off in the direction of the base. Gaara stepped to face the Konoha Shinobi. His eyes switched from one to other. Jumping on the floating sand that collected before him, he rose into the air, looking down at them. "I'll make this quick." He promised holding out his palm wide. It will not be very long before ANBU showed up.

Suddenly the sand around Team Eight rose and surrounded them, quickly shaping into a huge dome about fifteen feet with them in between.

_Damn it! _Sasuke thought fervently, looking around at the solidifying sand. Kiba and Akamaru tried the gatsuga attacks on the walls, drilling deep, but the walls simply healed themselves.

Outside, in the air as Gaara slowly folded his palm, foot long spikes of sand grew inside from every part of the dome.

Kurenai's eyes darted, searching for a weak spot, throwing tagged Kunai that blasted sections of the sand. But it was simply useless since the dome healed itself. Shino was trying a kikaichu-style gatsuga trying to drill a hole.

"Damn it!" Sasuke screamed as he thrust a rasengan into the wall, drilling a hole into it. As he pulled his arm back, in a blink of an eye the hole was filled again. A chirping noise filled the air and he slashed a chidori at the wall with almost no results. With his sharingan Sasuke noticed that the chakra in the sand was not the same as Gaara's. It was stronger and more intense. _Gaara must be using the bijuu chakra._

Outside, Gaara suddenly folded his fist and hundreds of the sand-spikes shot towards the Konoha-nin. Garra smiled as he sensed the spikes impale.

* * *

"I'll go meet them." Naruto informed.

Tatsuya looked at him with disbelieving eyes.

"Meet them!? Naruto, they're Akatsuki!"

"I got this. You and Kimmimaro go to the Land of Rivers hideout."

"Are you insane!?" Tatsuya screeched. "They want the Kyuubi!"

"Tatsuya!" Naruto said, almost shouting. "Go! I promise I'll meet you there tonight!"

Kimmimaro and Tatsuya exchanged dark looks. "I hope you know what you are doing, Naruto." Kimmimaro said before they darted out of the back door giving Naruto a last look.

"Yeah…" Naruto looked outside at Uchiha Shisui. "Me too…"

He formed a half tora seal and contacted Gaara.

* * *

Gaara's sand dome slowly crumbled and fell. From the sky Gaara searched for the signs of the bodies of the Konoha shinobi. He imagined Naruto's reaction of surprise after he informs him that he killed Uchiha Sasuke.

Gaara's eyes caught something glowing below the settling dust clouds where the dome once stood. As the dust settled slowly Gaara's eyes widened at the sight he saw.

A humongous incomplete skeleton surrounded the Konoha group who were very much alive. The skull's empty eye sockets glowed yellow, and it had an eeire skeletal grin on it's face, and one long horn to the right side on the skull. It was incomplete except from over the waist, a strange red fire like chakra surrounded it and one of its arms was missing. Gaara could see several sand spikes impaled on it. In the center, panting, on one knee was Uchiha Sasuke. His hands were clutched over his eyes. Slowly Sasuke's fingers parted and Gaara stared at a strange pair of eyes. Three, red, inter crossing ellipses surrounded each of the eyes' pupils. Blood slowly tricked down his cheek from underneath one of his eyes.

The other Konoha shinobi were as surprised as Gaara was. He recalled Naruto telling him his fight at the final valley with Sasuke and now realized why Naruto considered him special.

_Mangekyo Sharingan. _He distinctly recalled.

His eyes fell on the chakra glowing skeleton that was slowly fading away.

_Susano'o…_

As he watched the skeleton fade way completely and Sasuke fall on his knees, he didn't need an expert to tell him that Susano'o took a heavy toll on Sasuke's chakra.

As he called his sand to do his bidding once more and surrounded the helpless shinobi yet again, Naruto spoke in his head.

* * *

Leaning heavily against a surprised Kiba, Sasuke struggled to look at Gaara. He distinctly felt his sight blur and knew he was one step closer to losing his light completely. He was surprised as Gaara's sand that was once more surrounding them, slowly fell away. Gaara was looking to his side, frowning and muttering. Sasuke, with his sharingan read the word 'Naruto'. Gaara suddenly met Sasuke's eyes with distaste and unease. "Sorry…" He said, frowning. "It's your wrong day to die…" blinking once, and frowning deeper, he set off in the other direction, his sand collecting in his gourd.

* * *

**~ To be Continued ~**

* * *

**Author's Note #2:** Oh, FYI... Fishcake means Naruto...haha...now you get it, huh?

Aburame Shindo is the guy who comes with Orochimaru and Danzo to Kabuto's orphanage. His real name was not listed in any of the sites. The casting section simply read 'Aburame clan member' so I gave him a new name!

The next chapter will be a flashback chapter...hopefully many of your doubts will be cleared...

And one more thing...

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Don't forget to review!

* * *

**Next Chapter: **

**The Genin Days: Part - I **


	4. Chapter 4

**Not a Chapter**

I promised that I'd inform if I am unable to post a chapter. Here's a heads up. There is a 50% chance that I will not be posting this week...hey but there's also an equal chance that I'll post.

Just thought you guys ought to know.

If all goes well I'll post the chapter on 19th April.

Until then...Ja-ne.


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